The original intent was to talk to Brian Uliana for a few minutes just for the ACBL player of the week segment of the Boys of Summer column.

But once I got Uliana on the phone, it became clear that he deserved more than just a few lines with a comeback story that could be an inspiration to many athletes going through adversity.

Uliana was a three-sport athlete at Freedom.

He was the starting quarterback in football, a guard and scoring threat off the bench in basketball and a all-league and all-area shortstop and outfielder in baseball.

In his final regular-season game against Liberty in May 2013, Uliana suffered a torn UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) that put his baseball career on hold and required Tommy John surgery.

"My coach from Rider was at the game and I was just lucky that he still took me," Uliana said. "I had to rehab my entire freshman year at Rider and when you have to do that it really sucks. I went from a three-sport athlete in high school, finally narrowed it down to one, and then I blew out my arm right before college."

Though frustrated, Uliana stayed with it.

"I did everything I could to get back on the field as soon as possible," he said.

Eventually, he returned to the diamond last summer with the Lehigh Valley Catz of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League.

"I struggled at first because I was off for a year, but I did my best," he said. "But the time I got to my redshirt freshman year at Rider, I was ready to go. It absolutely felt great to get back. It's an awesome feeling when you know how hard you worked.

"Tommy John surgery isn't to be taken lightly. Sitting out a year of anything is really hard. I couldn't have been happier to get back on the field."

It again took some patience by Uliana for him to thrive at Rider this spring.

He didn't get to play much until the latter part of the season. Once he got his shot, he made the most of it.

Uliana appeared in just eight of Rider's first 37 games, but then won Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rookie of the week honors by collecting eight hits and seven RBIs in a four-game stretch that raised his average from .222 to .400.

He ended up leading Rider in hitting, batting .364 while playing in 20 games with 55 at-bats.

Uliana has continued to play well with the Trenton Generals in the ACBL, hitting .296 with four doubles among his 21 hits.

"Brian is a very aggressive hitter and we've talked to him a little bit about staying in the strike zone," Trenton manager Jim Maher said. "I talk to [Rider coach] Barry Davis all the time because I am a former Rider assistant.

"Brian exploded for Rider late in the season, but once the other teams get a book on you then you have to make the adjustment. Brian is capable of doing that and he has played very solid defense for us all year."

Uliana thoroughly enjoys Rider and thought it would be good for him to stay near the school this summer while playing in the ACBL.

He continues to be thankful for the chance to play the game he loves after not being able to play for so long.

"I really had fun playing three sports at Freedom," he said. "I enjoyed football and basketball as much as I could in high school because I knew after that it was going to be baseball for me.

"I am just so happy to be part of a successful and renowned program at Rider and happy to be around so many good players and coaches who really know the game. Even the guys on the teams we play have a lot of talent. It's a great experience and I just feel so fortunate that I will have three more years to keep playing and try to get better."

BML SEEKING A DRY JULY

When the Blue Mountain League changed the number of regular-season games from 30 in 2014 to 36 this season, league president Bob Varju was somewhat concerned knowing that the time frame could be tight.

Add in one of the wettest months of June in many years and you have a lot of teams with a lot of games to be played prior to July 28 when the season is supposed to end.

Varju, though, is optimistic.

"We're not completely backed up and we're not in dire straits, but there are games to be made up," Varju said. "When you have collegiate players that need to get back to college, your window of opportunity closes fast. Five or six of the teams have done a really good of getting their games made up. There are few others that have struggled to get games in.

"We had a meeting and put deadlines in place to get these games made up. We're going to be all right if the weather cooperates. We just can't have the rain in July that we had in June."

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

BML PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Westyn Baylor, Roseto Bandits

Roseto manager Josh Mohlmann feels lucky to get a second chance to coach Westyn Baylor. He coached him when Baylor was a high school player at Bangor and he’s coaching him again in his first Blue Mountain League season with Roseto.

“He’s on a different level right now,” Mohlmann said. “The ball comes off his bat different than it does with any other player in the league. The other guys look up to him and there’s a different mood around our team when he’s there as opposed to when he’s not. He has missed some games while trying out for independent league teams.”

Baylor, an outfielder, hit two home runs and went 4-for-4 in a 5-0 win over the Limeport Dodgers Friday night. He has six home runs, 20 RBIs and a .568 average in just 14 games and is one of the reasons why Roseto has nine wins at the BML’s halfway point after notching just 10 wins in all of 2014.

“I coached Westyn for four years at Bangor and now again and he has always been special,” Mohlmann said. “He went away to college [Mansfield] and came back very mature and responsible. He has a great attitude. He’s usually the first one at batting practice because he loves to hit.”

ACBL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Brian Uliana, Trenton Generals

Trenton manager Jim Maher said his defending ACBL champs have been struggling to score runs this season. But in a doubleheader sweep of the North Jersey Eagles on Thursday night, they found plenty of offense primarily from the bat of Freedom High graduate Brian Uliana.

Uliana, who is coming off a solid redshirt freshman season at Rider, had five hits and five RBIs in the 4-3 and 5-4 wins. He had a double in each game. In one night, he raised his average from .254 to .296.

“He hit the ball the other way, he had a couple of two-strike hits, he found the gap … he really had a good night,” Maher said. “At times Brian chases balls outside the strike zone and gets himself out because he’s so aggressive. We’ve worked with him on that. He led off for us in that doubleheader and we might leave him there for awhile.”

Meanwhile, he has been solid defensively in center field where his athleticism shines.

Maher said Uliana is a typical Rider player who “plays the game hard and comes ready to work every day. When you get a Rider kid, you know they’re going to work hard and play the game the right way.”